Nadine (Dee) Johnson

Nadine (Dee) Johnson

July 6, 1943 – January 10, 2022

AURORA, COLORADO – Nadine Rae Johnson, 78, of Aurora, Colorado, died of complications of a stroke the afternoon of Monday, January 10, 2022, at her home alongside her children.

Nadine was born July 6, 1943, in Baker City, Oregon, the first daughter of Robert Andrew Denton and Violette Golden (Simrell) Wright. Nadine attended Baker City schools and then worked at Baker’s A&W and Geiser Grand Hotel. She met her husband-to-be, Mark DeWayne Johnson, while he was serving in the Air Force and stationed in Baker City. Following his honorable discharge, she married Mark in November of 1964 and they moved to Iowa Falls, Iowa.

During her fifty-plus years in Iowa Falls, Nadine worked for several businesses, including the Princess Café, Hecht Office Supplies, General Publishing and Binding, and SMI Joist. She may be best remembered for working for Medicap Pharmacy, which she did from 1984 to 2001. In retirement, Nadine and Mark wintered in Arizona and traveled the American west, always stopping in Colorado to visit their children in the Denver area. The couple moved to Colorado in April of 2019 following Mark’s cancer diagnosis, where Nadine would be close to her family.

As a child of depression-era parents who each moved west for a better life, Nadine identified with the persistence and practicality of the pioneers. She enjoyed simple things – sharing a home-cooked meal, crocheting and quilting, an honest day’s work, a good book, a tidy home, a thrifty budget, the quiet before sunrise, and most of all, time with family and close friends. She marveled at how much changed during her lifetime, yet somehow had not changed enough. An 1853 quote from Agnes Stewart Warner, an Oregon Trail pioneer, adorned Nadine’s home: “I am weary of this journey, weary of myself and all around me. I long for the quiet of home where I can be at peace once more.”

Nadine was preceded in death by her mother and father; her stepfather, Roy Wright; and her husband, Mark. She is survived by her daughter, Dulcey Johnson, of Aurora, Colorado; her son, Raymond Johnson, of Broomfield, Colorado; and her grandson, Huston Johnson, of Aurora, Colorado. She is also survived by her four siblings: Vernon Fisher, of Nampa, Idaho; Dallas Denton, of The Dalles, Oregon; Shelley Abell, of La Grande, Oregon; and Todd Denton, of Pendleton, Oregon.

The family appreciates all the support and well-wishes from family and friends and ask that condolences be sent to Dulcey Johnson at 1117 Quentin St, Aurora, CO 80011.